Los Angeles City Councilman Bernard C. Parks and his staff are drafting an official city resolution to condemn racist remarks attributed to Clippers owner Donald Sterling and push the NBA to make “appropriate sanctions.” Parks said such sanctions would be similar to those used against former Cincinnati Reds owner Marge Schott, who was repeatedly suspended from managing the baseball team in the '90s. The resolution, still being drafted Sunday afternoon, will also demand an apology to Magic Johnson and “the entire Los Angeles community,” back the decision by the Los Angeles chapter of the NAACP to drop plans to honor Sterling, and ask local newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times, to stop running ads for Sterling “that display his commercial real estate empire and his alleged civic activities.” “Sterling's actions are inconsistent with the United States human rights laws, the long-standing positions of the L.A. City Council, the diversity of the community, the fan base of the Clippers and the very high percentage of minorities who worked for and are working for the NBA,” Parks said in a statement Sunday.

Re "Park closures don't add up," Column, May 28 A couple of weeks ago, I led an interpretive walk in one of our state parks for a class of at-risk children. For many of them, this was their first trip to see the ocean. For all of them, it was their first walk in the backcountry, the place where nature still rules. It was a rewarding day for me and a worthwhile experience for them. Their eyes were as wide as saucers and their questions never stopped. Yet this is the type of experience that will disappear in California if Gov. Jerry Brown's penny wise and pound foolish park closure plan goes into effect.

A mother with reported emotional problems fatally stabbed her 7-month-old son at a Bay Area park on Saturday, police said. East Bay Regional Park District Police Chief Timothy Anderson told the San Jose Mercury News that the mother, who was not identified, had depression. Police discovered a car abandoned at Del Valle Regional Park on Saturday morning. Rangers began searching and found the woman on a trail holding her lifeless baby. "This kind of thing rarely happens in our jurisdiction," Anderson told the newspaper.

March 28, 2012 | By Mary McNamara, Los Angeles Times Television Critic

There are many reasons to watch NBC's marvelously funny "Parks and Recreation," but at this point I only need one: Ron Swanson. Swanson is played by Nick Offerman, an actor blessed with a deeply melodious voice and wickedly expressive eyebrows who has mastered, if not invented, the art of over-the-top understatement. But Swanson is a sum of several parts - an exquisite creation of Offerman's talent, but also of writing and directing, of hair, makeup and wardrobe. And I love him with all my heart.

Wham! Bam! Ka-Pow! A bruising brawl involving comic-book superheroes, Saturday morning cartoon characters and extreme sports icons will change the ride and roller coaster landscape of Six Flags' 11 U.S. amusement parks in 2011. An intellectual property housecleaning at the amusement park chain has left Bugs Bunny, Superman and Scooby-Doo victorious and Thomas the Tank Engine, The Wiggles, Evel Knievel and Tony Hawk vanquished. In a sudden about-face, Six Flags is undoing several licensing agreements established since 2007 for 60 amusement park rides and attractions.

If you didn't buy an annual California state parks pass yet, prepare to shell out a bit more. The new price of $195 - a $70 leap - goes into effect today (Tuesday). The California Department of Parks and Recreation hopes to generate $1 million to $1.5 million by raising the prices of state park passes, according to a statement. The popular Vehicle Day Use Annual Pass that allows access to all 279 state parks for a year jumps from $125 to $195; the Golden Poppy Vehicle Day Use Pass good at selected parks for a year increases from $90 to $125, and the Boat Use Pass (Sticker)

June 13, 2010 | By Christopher Smith, Special to the Los Angeles Times

With school out (or about to be) and long, sunny days in, the charms of baseball beckon. But if big league prices put a dent in your budget, you can still find excitement at minor league parks. Southern California has five minor-league teams strung in a crescent on the area's northern and eastern rims. They play in intimate parks that are far enough away to provide a getaway but close enough to constitute a day's outing. Heading to a minor-league game is equivalent to running away to baseball never-never land, an affordable destination that can fill a summer evening to the brim.

"Parks and Recreation" may not have much to brag about in terms of audience size, but the cult-beloved NBC comedy can certainly point to one advantage: its viewers' paychecks. Among the series on the four major networks this fall, "Parks" has the highest concentration of upscale young adult viewers. In this context, " upscale young adult " means people in the 18-49 demo who live in households with yearly income of $100,000 or more. Three weeks into the fall season, "Parks and Rec" boasts a score of 171 on the upscale density index, for which 100 equals an average concentration of homes.

One by one, some of the 70 California state parks slated to close in July are quietly being spared in the short term as nonprofits and other agencies raise their hands to take over their operation. In April, five more parks, including writer Jack London's home and the remaining building of the Santa Cruz Mission, circa 1791, came off the list of closures announced last year as part of a $22-million cost-cutting measure by the California Department...

Ever since Granada Hills Kennedy opened in 1971, it has been known to produce lots of baseball-playing brothers. Tagliaferri, Serr, Miranda, Avlas, Kane, Pinto, Ramirez, Sanchez, Bourne - they are just a few of the families that helped propel Kennedy to seven City Section championships. But no brother combination comes close to pulling off what Nick and Estevan Rodriguez did this month in a home game against Granada Hills. Batting third and fourth in the starting lineup, Nick, a senior shortstop, and Estevan, a junior first baseman, hit back-to-back inside-the-park home runs.

Getting the strangers to open up wasn't easy. But Jesus Rodriguez, a high school senior, pressed on, clipboard and questionnaire in hand. He and about 15 other students spent Thursday evening at MacArthur Park, interviewing people about their lives, their well-being and the health of their neighborhood. Their responses will be the basis for an intricate art installation to be displayed at the park in the fall. For Rodriguez, 18, the exercise was eye-opening. He spent two hours approaching random men and women, some of them homeless.

The industrial city of Vernon in southeast Los Angeles County has long been known for its small number of residents and voters - just 42 turned out for a municipal election last year, for example. So on Friday, when city leaders and state and national elected officials announced the groundbreaking of a new apartment complex in the city, it was hailed as a good governance reform that will bring more voters to the city. The 45-unit Vernon Village Park is hailed as an environmentally conscious, energy-efficient facility that, as city officials put it, "will make the concept of a live/work community a reality in Vernon.

The last football game played in Candlestick Park will be a rematch of Super Bowl XIX. Sort of. Hall of Fame quarterbacks Joe Montana, 57, and Dan Marino, 52, are scheduled to take the field at the historic stadium for a flag football game , in which the San Francisco legend will lead a team of former 49ers against the Miami great and a team of All-Stars on July 12. The 49ers play their first exhibition game at their new home, Levi's...

Orange County coroner's officials on Saturday released the name of a woman who was killed when a car plowed into a group of people outside a Buena Park restaurant Friday night . Marisa Malin, 73, of Cerritos, was sitting on a bench outside Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour Restaurant in the 8600 block of Beach Boulevard when a silver SUV jumped the curb, knocked down a railing and struck Malin and six other people, authorities said. Coroner's officials said Malin was pinned beneath the vehicle.

A grass-roots group that has been railing against Los Angeles' parking ticket policies has agreed to team up with Mayor Eric Garcetti to look at changes to the enforcement system. Steven Vincent, founder of the Los Angeles Parking Freedom Initiative, said Garcetti invited members of his organization to participate in an official city working group. The panel, Vincent said, will look at an array of possible changes, such as reducing certain fines, expanding parking hours in key locations, making no-parking signs less confusing and halting the practice of using ticket revenue as a tool to balance the city's budget.

SACRAMENTO -- The Legislature plans to hold a joint oversight hearing next week to probe California's scandal-plagued parks department. Controversy erupted last year with the discovery of a $54-million surplus in the agency's budget at a time when the deficit-plagued state was threatening to close dozens of parks. The revelation forced the parks director to resign and spurred calls for better oversight of the agency. The state attorney general's office subsequently determined that $20.4 million of the hidden money had been deliberately squirreled away because parks officials feared that their budget was going to be cut. The oversight hearing, set for Feb. 20, is to feature testimony from retired Marine Maj. Gen. Anthony Jackson , the newly appointed head of the Parks and Recreation Department, and focus on a series of financial reports revealing accounting problems.

A marathon of the first three "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies, plus a Q&A with cast members and members of the production team, will be part of the ParkFilm Fest May 5 at Paramount Studios. Proceeds to help offset cuts to California state parks . . . . Looking for a reasonable Easter brunch in a festive setting? W Los Angeles-Westwood is offering a $20.12 meal that includes lots of choices, including lobster and brie sliders . Three egg hunts are also on the schedule for the 10 a.m.- to-3 p.m. brunch.

A 52-year-old man found dead by the 110 Freeway in Highland Park has been identified, authorities said. Ruben Castaneda, 52, was discovered Tuesday night in a dirt area near the northbound lanes of the freeway with a single gunshot wound, said Lt. David Smith of the Los Angeles County coroner's office. Castaneda's city of residence hasn't been identified, Smith added. HOMICIDE REPORT: A story for every victim Witnesses told police they heard four or five gunshots that night, but they could not provide a description of the attacker.

To some in Canoga Park, the Xposed Gentlemen's Club is an unwelcome neighborhood landmark. Residents complain about its sultry billboards featuring scantily clad women. The LAPD tried - and failed - to shut it down, citing complaints of violence, prostitution and drug use. There was a shooting in the parking lot last year; a man's throat was slit in the club a few years back. But the strip club has survived, and its management has made an unusual move - seeking seats on the very same neighborhood council that has been a forum for complaints about it. The owner and two employees of the club ran for seats on the council last month, and one was elected.